Is this correct. Thought helmets were VAT exempt?

Aren’t they 0% rated, and if the retailer is VAT registered they still need to show it as a gross price?

Retailer is VAT registered, so its a cockup their end, the price is the price just that their system has broken it down as having VAT?

If you’re happy with the price you’ve paid then I guess thats fine, but the retailer’s not doing themselves any favours I imagine as they’ll end up paying money that should be their profit to the HMRC as vat

They are 0% VAT so i suggest contacting them and asking them for 20% back

the OP didn’t actually say he’d paid the VAT, just that VAT was ‘included’ – which is why I think they have to show ‘VAT’ included even if its £0.00.

VAT was shown as 20%

They are 0% VAT so i suggest contacting them and asking them for 20% 16.67% of the purchase price back

/pedant

😉

If they’ve charged you VAT @ 20% then they shouldn’t have and you should ask for it back. I suspect what will actually happen is that they’ll say it was an invoicing error, the gross price as charged is correct and they will reissue the invoice for the same value, showing it all as sales and zero VAT so you probably won’t see any money come back your way.

As above, if they’ve accounted for it as output VAT in what should have been their sale price and their supplier isn’t similarly daft, then effectively they’re giving a hefty chunk of their margin to the government. How generous / stupid of them.

From what I understand if the helmet is not marked with the correct safety standard for the UK then it should incur VAT. So if it has come through a channel other than the UK distributor it may indeed be VATable.